The nation is not building nearly enough new residential units. The serious shortage of new supply is bottling up housing demand and pushing home prices and apartment rents well beyond what a growing number of households can afford.

Salt Lake City is frequently cited as a rising tech hub, thanks to a combination of low taxes, local schools funneling skilled workers into the market, suitable infrastructure for business, and a vibrant startup community.

The Common Good Awards luncheon represents a unique opportunity to commemorate our community's shared strengths. We're proud to have you, friends and supporters of Envision Utah, by our side for this event.

Mark your calendars! Tickets will be available soon. We look forward to seeing you there!

Release of the Utah County Agriculture Toolbox

Since last summer, we’ve been hard at work on the Utah County Agriculture toolbox. Over the past year we’ve held stakeholder meetings, researched topics, and created strategies aimed at preserving Utah County’s strong agricultural heritage despite increased development pressures across the Wasatch Front. The toolbox details 33 unique tools that are based on the two overarching goals we developed alongside stakeholders: "work to make and keep agriculture economically and socially viable" and "encourage development patterns and implement measures that protect agricultural land and water."

We’ll release the final Utah County Agriculture Toolbox later this month at Utah State University’s Farm Field Days in American Fork! Farm Field Days is a program that gives elementary school students valuable hands-on experience with animals, farms, and other aspects of agriculture. The event will be held in the morning, just before the Farm Field Days activities begin. It will be a lot of fun—we’re excited to share the final toolbox with you!

When: September 29th, 9:00 am to 10:15 amWhere: Utah County Equestrian Park
9400 North 6800 West American Fork, Utah 84003

Cleaner Cars for a Cleaner Utah

It’s no secret that tailpipe emissions from our cars and trucks are the top contributor to poor air quality in the winter. During temperature inversions, we watch as the soot pools in the valley floor, every trip to work or to the grocery store contributing a little more to the problem.

But where there are problems, there are opportunities. According to Envision Utah/Utah DAQ projections, cars are the single biggest opportunity for improvement in our air quality because of the pace of change in technology. While other methods to improve air quality will include a buffet approach —piecing together dozens of strategies from lowering our thermostats to upgrading our window insulation — there is a quick, inexpensive fix for our cars: tier 3 vehicles.

Starting with 2017 model year cars, car manufacturers in concert with the EPA will begin to phase in Tier 3. Tier 3 is a fleet average for a cleaner vehicles rolling off auto-lots nationwide. The equation is simple: get more cars that emit less from their tailpipes on the road, and the average emissions from the vehicle fleet will decrease, and our air quality will improve.

But we have an additional challenge in Utah. Utah is growing faster than almost every other state, which mean that even though technology is improving, we will simply have more and more cars on the road. If these cars aren’t as clean as possible, we may offset some of the benefits of cleaner technology. How can we address this? Speed up the adoption of cleaner cars and quickly get as many clean cars in Utah as we can.
So the next time you visit your auto dealer, ask about smog ratings.

Ask them about smog ratings. The price difference is often nominal, but the impact in smog ratings can’t be understated. The average car sold in Utah today has a smog rating of 6. That’s not bad, but an 8 is a full 70% cleaner could average smog ratings of 8 across the state that would be the same as taking nearly three out of every four vehicles off the road. These cars are available, but you’ll need to ask. Look at the window stickers, and when given the choice between two cars of the same model, ALWAYS go for the one with the better, higher smog rating.

Clean air is something we all value, and we can all contribute to cleaner, healthier air. No single act will improve air quality more than buying the cleanest possible car that suits the needs of you and your family. If you’re looking to buy a new car, keep in mind those smog ratings. Your lungs but more importantly your and grandchildren — will thank you.

New Website!

Check out the redesigned Envision Utah website to stay up to date on all of our current projects, access our library of tools, learn about the vision that Utahns have for the state in 2050, and find the latest information on our upcoming Common Good Awards!

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